Moebius
}} Moebius, originally known as Samuel Marston, is a human necromancer with delusions of grandeur who is travelling around the world seeking to recruit both the living and the dead to his army. Biography Third Age Early Years A Sinister Discovery Born in a small peasant village in the north of Remon, Samuel Marston was always a nice, quiet boy whose head was often in the clouds. He usually spent his days out in the pastures with the sheep, talking to them and occasionally reading something that the village cleric lent him, while spending his nights with his wife and two children. Then, one day, this changed. It started out like almost any other morning of the week. Samuel had eaten his breakfast, helped his wife prepare the children for their day learning their trades, and dropped off the pamphlet that he had borrowed from the cleric the other day. Then he'd grabbed his crook and set the village's sheep to move from the barn where they slept out to the pastures to graze. Then one of the blasted things had decided to amble off near the woods as if it wanted to get eaten by a dire wolf or something. That should have been the most exciting thing that happened that day, but instead the sheep happened to trip on something in the dirt. This let Sam catch up to it quickly, but also sparked his curiosity. So after making sure the sheep wasn't going anywhere, he dug up whatever it was that had caused the problem. Oddly enough, it was a book. One that was in remarkably good shape for being buried in the dirt. It was titled, A Guide to Mastering the Artes Necromantick, written in an odd script of red ink, and bound with black leather. Having no other reading material for the day, Samuel decided to just crack open the cover and give it a look, wondering what these "Artes Necromantick" were...and after taking a seat beneath the shade, he didn't put it down. In fact, he was quite late for dinner, and almost forgot to bring the sheep back into the barn. When he tried to show his wife the book as an explanation, she took a look at it and told him that she couldn't make head or tails of the confusing gibberish, she also told him to throw it away. He didn't. Rise of a Necromancer Instead, he continued to read it, voraciously memorizing and absorbing the information about how to break the barriers between life and death. His shepherding performance slipped first, and he was replaced by a local farmhand when he stopped coming out to the pastures. Then he began to experiment, making the chickens that his wife plucked come to life, absorbing the energy of flowers from the garden, and communing with a few spirits here and there. Then his body began to change, shrinking and warping, becoming more pale as his hair started to slough off. His wife called the cleric and healer, but neither of them could figure out a way to reverse the effects. No prayer, spell, or potion seemed to reverse the effects, or even stop any further damage. And throwing the book away didn't work either, it just found its way back into his hands every time. Right around the point where Sam's eyes turned red and he started calling himself a master necromancer named Moebius is where they gave up trying. It was also when his wife and children left him to head to his mother-in-law's house in the next village over. By quite the coincidence, the disease that would soon become known as the Plague of Undeath started to creep into town at this time. Afflicting first the farmhands that had been guarding the sheep, after an odd man with rags had bitten them and gone back into the forest, before spreading all about town. When the first victim died and came back to life as a ghoul, with twenty more still suffering from the symptoms of coughing up their own blood, the townsfolk logically deduced that the insane man that called himself a necromancer might have something to do with it. Thusly, they stormed his cottage and attempted to slay him, only for Moebius to run out the unsecured back door and into the woods. He carried nothing with him but the clothes and cloak on his back, a bit of bread and cheese, his book, and his old shepherd's crook. After that, he traveled across Remon, avoiding people and draining the life force from various plants and animals to sustain himself after he ran out of food. Oh so luckily, he got out of his home nation just before the plague that afflicted it had reached its peak outbreak. After having traveled across the Maar Sulais no man's land, looting from battlefields and destroyed villages, and seeing the stigma that necromancy gets, he vowed to gather the ingredients necessary to raise his own army of the undead, supplemented by living minions, and carve a bloody swathe throughout the land for his own empire. Godslayer Era Finding a Ship Moebius ended up in Yamato, sailing aimlessly in the archipelago with a skull, which may or may not have been reanimated and which he had dubbed Petey, keeping him company. The uneven pair witnessed a battle between a sea serpent and three pirate ships. After the battle was over and the sea serpent had been subdued, Moebius made himself known to the crews of the ships and asked them to join his army. He was met with derisive laughter, and he demanded to know why the crew had reacted in such a manner. Although most of the crews either sneered at him or ignored him, Moebius's inquiry was finally answered by Captain Decanus Tafford of the Morning Star. Decanus, wanting to have some fun, ostensibly praised Moebius while in reality his tone was quite mocking. After having some fun, Decanus would've been okay leaving the rambling necromancer behind had Hiroki Hyuga, another necromancer, not convinced him to give the "Magnificent Emperor" a chance; according to Hiroki, Moebius's powers could be used for their benefit. Decanus grudgingly followed Hiroki's advice and ordered Moebius to be taken aboard. Moebius saw the ship as useful for his goals of one day commanding an army and named Decanus the Admiral of his future fleet. Decanus, while doing his best to act polite, did remind Moebius that emperor or not, he would have to follow Decanus's orders while aboard his ship as the pirate code dictated. Moebius was not too pleased by this but understood that he'd have to play by the captain's rules for the time being unless he wanted to end up on a raft all alone. He also learned that the crew was after the sea serpent he'd seen them battle earlier, and that the prey should be nearby. While onboard, Moebius also got to know Hiroki, the man who had convinced the captain to save him. Although the Yamatian man acted politely enough, Moebius was suspicious of him when he caught a glimpse of a smug sneer, especially after he learned Hiroki was a necromancer as well. Despite his misgivings about the man and how genuine he was, Moebius still saw Hiroki as a potentially useful underling. He also met Hiroki's companion, Rahovart, who also gave him an odd feeling although he did not know why he felt that way. A Dangerous Voyage When the Morning Star sailed to Devilfish Strait, the crew heard strange singing which many found creepy but which Moebius was merely annoyed at. Moebius challenged the voice which he guessed to be magical and demanded the singer to identify herself to him. Instead of meeting the source of the voice, another reply came instead. The ship was soon surrounded by devilfish which may or may not have been drawn by the voice. To prevent the curious but potentially dangerous creatures from harming the ship, Decanus ordered his crew to deal with them. Hiroki suggested that he and Moebius combine their necromantic spells to drive the devilfish off, and Moebius agreed. It was decided that it would be Moebius who would be casting most of the spells while Hiroki would spare his magic for another day and let Moebius channel some of his spells. Moebius did as was told and managed to kill several devilfish, which made the rest of the devilfish disappear. The giddyness of having dealt with the devilfish lasted only for a time before a new threat emerged. The Morning Star came under attack from above by harpies which kept picking off the crew one by one. Moebius was too tired from having channeled the spell earlier to be of much use and was nearly unconscious during the Battle of Devilfish Strait. The other two pirate ships, the Moldy Crow and the Seastrider, came to the rescue not long after, however, and managed to even the odds in the fight against the harpies. Despite the pirates' bravery, the harpies regrouped and prepared to attack again, which would've spelled certain doom on them all. It was then a mysterious light appeared and decinmated several harpies while sending the surviving harpies fleeing from it. It turned out that one of the passengers on the ships, Rhett Lassiter, had cast a powerful light spell which should've been beyond his ability to cast. The pirates, although suspicious, chose not to dwell on the matter for too long, however, because the most important thing to them was that they were safe now to continue the hunt. Despite suffering damage, the three ships continued the voyage deeper into the strait before the harpies would recover and return with a vengeance, and soon spotted the sea serpent entering a nearby cave. It was decided that the three ships and the majority of the crews would stay behind to guard the entrance from any hostiles while a select few members from each crew would enter the cave on rowboats to finally catch the serpent and perhaps confront the source of the mysterious singing voice as well. More to be added later. Fourth Age Interim Years Moebius spent some time traveling with the pirates following the adventure in Devilfish Strait. However, at the request of Petey and his book, Moebius slipped away from the pirates shortly before they were overwhelmed by retaliating demonic hordes who located and sacked Shipwreck Cove. He travelled the world for a short while "incognito" before finding himself at the site of an ancient tomb in Libaterra. After setting Petey on watch, and surviving a strange earthquake caused by the Catastrophe which both led to the destruction of many old kingdoms and ushered in the Fourth Age, Moebius sequestered himself inside and spent the next twenty years studying his tome and all of its spells and rituals while his body continued to change. Moebius would have been content to simply study and practice on animal test subjects forever, and yet he occasionally found his studies interrupted either by village idiots claiming to be "Knights of the Kingdom of Zion" or surprisingly-weak demons demanding he pay fealty to the "Tetrarchy of the Empire of Andaria". There were a few elves poking around his home, too. As time passed, the book began demanding that he set out again to found his Dread Army. A Magnificent Return In 20 AC, Moebius found Abraxxus and other soldiers from the Ruby Legion scouting the tomb he had been studying in. He ambushed and imprisoned the demons to perform tests on them. Aliases and Nicknames ; The Magnificent Emperor Moebius the First : What he is calling himself. ; Moby : A nickname of his alias. ; Samuel Marston : His real name which he has abandoned in favour of his new alias. Appearance About 5' 8" tall, though he claims to have once possessed more height. The rest of his looks are usually obscured by an odd ensemble of rusted and mismatched armor, a brown cloak, and a mask of Sinlarine origin, in the form of a skull. In the sockets of said mask, one can see Moebius' red eyes, which are often the only way to tell his emotional state. If stripped of these accoutrements, he becomes significantly less impressive. His entire body is hairless and pale, to the point where his veins can be seen, along with running an odd line between wiry and atrophied. His nails are long and almost clawlike, and his teeth seem to be filed to points and yellowed. Personality and Traits The Magnificent Emperor Moebius the First, or "Moby" to his friends, has plans to conquer all who dare to stand in his way. Most of these plans are rather simple and prone to failure from glaring oversight or lack of the focus required to pull off the less flawed ones. These plans also often rely on amazing things that Moebius doesn't have on him, or have access to...necessitating plans to get the ingredients for other plans, resulting in a mess. But no matter what, "The Magnificent Emperor" is always sure that he will succeed and will ignore just about anyone that says otherwise. That is not to say that he's necessarily rude, on the contrary he's still quite friendly and sociable despite his delusions of grandeur, and he's so desperate for minions that he'll most likely bend over backwards to keep anyone that pledges to him in his service. Despite his growing power, he still has all of the worldliness of a small-town peasant whom happens to know how to read. In other words, he's a bit naive and easy to manipulate if someone words things just right or uses terms that he is unfamiliar with. He also has occasional problems from a lack of an attention span causing his spells, monologues, and plans to get derailed, as well as odd focuses on things that he considers interesting. Powers and Abilities As a necromancer he knows how to raise the dead into undead minions and knows a few basic spells used by his profession. Relationships Decanus Tafford Moebius saw the pirate captain Decanus as a useful underling and kept giving him orders which Decanus sometimes followed and sometimes did not. Decanus, meanwhile,wais annoyed by Moebius's demands but played along as Hiroki had convinced him that even an unstable man like Moebius could be of use to them. Since parting ways, Moebius and Decanus have given little thought to one another as they both pursue more important matters. Hiroki Hyuga Moebius did not trust Hiroki but was willing to work alongside the fellow necromancer to accomplish his goals while they were traveling with the pirates. He often made sure to let Hiroki know which of them was the one in charge. Hiroki, meanwhile, was polite around Moebius, directing the necromancer's powers for his benefit. Since parting ways, Moebius and Hiroki have given little thought to one another as they both pursue more important matters. Petey A skull which Moebius has found during his travels. Whether the skull has actually been reanimated or not, one thing is clear: at the very least Moebius himself thinks the skull is "alive" and is communicating with him, and no one else has commented on the skull's "activity" whatsoever. The two have a snarky relationship where Petey often offers solid advice to balance Moebius's craziness. See also *A Guide to Mastering the Artes Necromantick *Decanus Tafford *Hiroki Hyuga Category:Humans Category:Third Age characters Category:Fourth Age characters Category:Characters from Remon